Curly maple Shaker lingerie chest

I have a friend who owns a sawmill in northeastern Wisconsin. He called me and asked if I was interested in a pile of curly maple that had recently made its way down the green chain.

“Yep, I’m definitely interested. . . I’ll be there in less than an hour!”

I am making a Shaker-style bedroom set out of the rough sawn lumber I picked up that day. The lingerie chest is the first piece I completed and nightstands are next.

I have used curly maple before, but have had issues finishing it in a way that did justice to the incredible figure of this wood. I did some searching on the Internet and was led to Lumberjocks and a “how-to” post about using water-based aniline dyes on figured maple by a member called “Trifern.” Thanks to Trifern and his instructional I finally achieved the finish I knew was waiting to come out of the curly maple.

The side panels, drawer fronts and legs are all solid curly maple and the top is birdseye maple. Knobs are curly maple and were ordered from an online supplier. Drawer sides and backs were crafted from poplar. The drawer bottoms and dust panels are 1/4” baltic birch plywood.